Storybook
by hammierox
Summary: When seven books arrive mysteriously in the Wizarding World, everyone wants to read them. The Harry Potter characters reading the books. AU. Spoiler alert for books 1 through 7!
1. The Storybooks

**Everything Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling, not me. ( sigh )**

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There was one day, after the Battle of Hogwarts, that seven books mysteriously arrived in one of the fireplaces of the Ministry of Magic. Since then, every week there was a gathering in Diagon Alley to read a chapter from the books, which were known as the storybooks of Harry Potter.

Everyone gathered around in the crowded Diagon Alley for the first reading. Word of the storybooks had spread fast, and many of the heroes from the Battle of Hogwarts were there- Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, etc. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, stood at the front with the first book, ready to start the reading.

Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, and Ron Weasley sat near the back, hoping not to attract too much attention from the enormous crowd of wizards a witches eager to read.

As soon as everyone calmed down, Kingsley Shacklebolt cleared his throat and announced, "Hello witches and wizards, welcome to the first reading of the Harry Potter storybooks. The first one we will be reading is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Then, he began to read.

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**So how did you like it? I might tweak the stories a bit to change how things turn out for some characters, because in the books some of the characters I liked didn't get their happy ending... This is my first fanfic.. so please don't hate...hoped you liked the first chapter! :)  
**


	2. The Boy Who Lived

**Harry Potter and his friends all belong to JK Rowling.**

**A long chapter- Yay! Hope you like it! :)**

**Thanks to _jasono346 _for reviewing.**

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**Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived**

_**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**_

A couple 3rd year wizards in the back sniggered. One muttered,"_Nonsense_" and rolled his eyes. A glare from an older wizard shut them up.

_**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**_

Ron threw a questioning glance at Hermione, who explained to the crowd that drills are a tool for creating holes in construction.

_**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**_

The crowd howled with laughter at the description of the "perfectly normal" Dursleys. Harry only chuckled, because he knew that the description was extremely close to the truth. Eventually everyone calmed down, and Kingsley continued.

_**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it.**_

Harry smiled. He knew very well what the secret was. Luna and Ginny looked at him with questioning eyes, but he pretended not to notice.

_**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**_

With that, the crowd burst into shocked and angry outbursts. How could they think so lowly of one of the most known families in the wizarding world? The family of the famous _Boy Who Lived_, their hero, Harry Potter? They didn't want _Harry Potter_, _the Chosen One,_ to mix in with their son! Angry mutterings passed through the crowd. Harry turned slightly pink, not expecting such a reaction. Kingsley cleared his throat, trying to calm everyone down. After a few minutes, the angry crowd finally died down.

_**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window. **_

"Ooooooooooooooh," several young Hogwarts students said, causing the wizards and witches around them to roll their eyes and grunt impatiently.

_**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was mow having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the wall. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **_

Harry smirked, imagining a baby pig with blonde hair throwing his breakfast.

_**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar-a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the Professor**_

"Professor McGonagall," all the older witches and wizards said out loud. Minerva McGonagall smiled, had her disguise really been that bad?

_**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. **_

The same group of people smirked and thought,"What does he know?"

_**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. ****As he drove toward town he thought of **__**nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **__**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something **__**else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help **__**noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people **__**about. People in cloaks. **_

A few people in the crowd blushed. They had celebrated far too carelessly on that day.

_**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in **__**funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this **__**was some stupid new fashion. **_

A ripple of soft laughter went throughout the crowd. These muggles really didn't anything at all, despite the fact they were related to a family of brilliant wizards and witches. Ah well, it was their loss for ignoring the magical side of the family.

_**He drummed his fingers on the steering **__**wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite **__**close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was **__**enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man **__**had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! **_

A boy in the crowd blushed red. His father's favorite cloak was an emerald green one, and he always would celebrate recklessly. The boy was certain the man in the story was his father.

_**The **__**nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some **__**silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... **__**yes, that would be it. **_

"Psshhhhh," almost everyone muttered under their breath. How dumb could this muggle get?

_**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. **__**Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. **__**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the **__**ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate **__**on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swoop ing past in broad **__**daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed **__**open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never **__**seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly **__**normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made **__**several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**_

"Gee," Ron thought, now feeling bad for his friend, Harry, who he knew had to live with the Dursleys for many years. Ron threw Harry a sympathetic glance and patted him on the back. Harry just gave a _now-do-you-get-it_ look and smiled at the red head.

_** He was in a **__**very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs **__**and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. **__**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of **__**them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't **__**know why, but they made him uneasy. **_

A group of young wizards smirked triumphantly. "We should make those horrible muggles uneasy," they thought out loud. Minerva, who was next to them, glared at them and told them to be quiet, even though she silently agreed.

_**This bunch were whispering **__**excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on **__**his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he **__**caught a few words of what they were saying. **__**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry" **__**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. **_

"Ha," the crowd muttered, happy that their heroes names caused such a reaction.

_**He looked back at the **__**whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better **__**of it. **__**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his **__**secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost **__**finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the **__**receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was **__**being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were **__**lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think **__**of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even **__**seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point **__**in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her **__**sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... **_

Once again, angry shouts filled the air with noise. As if those muggles even deserved to be related to a hero! What a disgrace!

_**but all **__**the same, those people in cloaks... **__**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and **__**when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that **__**he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **__**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It **__**was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a **__**violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the **__**ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in **__**a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, **__**for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at **__**last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, **__**happy day!" **__**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. **_

"Flitwick," Harry whispered to Luna, who was resting her head on his shoulders. Luna smiled. Leave it to their over excited Charms teacher to make his mark on the story. Professor Flitwick blushed tomato red where he was sitting.

_**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete **__**stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that **__**was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping **__**he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he **__**didn't approve of imagination. **_

"He didn't approve of imagination?" Luna asked Harry quietly. It was the first time she had spoke during the entire reading. She looked at him with big, surprised, silver eyes. "How could you stand that? I wouldn't be able to bear it!" she mumbled quietly. Harry only shrugged. He could easily understand why Luna was surprised. After all, Luna was a girl full of imagination. She wouldn't understand how the Durleys didn't approve of it.

_**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - **__**and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that **__**morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the **__**same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. **__**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a **__**stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? **_

"Nope.." the crowd muttered in exasperated voices. Not understanding the wizarding world was one thing, but cats were commonly found in muggle homes and buildings. Mr. Dursley thinking that cats give stern looks on a regular basis? As if.

_**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying **__**to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still **__**determined not to mention anything to his wife. **__**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all **__**about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had **__**learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When **__**Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to **__**catch the last report on the evening news: **__**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's **__**owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally **__**hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been **__**hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since **__**sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly **__**changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. **_

One of the wizards in the crowd smiled. "That's me," he confirmed to his friends.

_**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going **__**to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" **__**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not **__**only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as **__**Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead **__**of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting **__**stars! **_

Hermione and Minerva shared a glance. "Dedalus Diggle," they thought out loud. Sitting somewhere in the front, Dedalus Diggle blushed crimson red, almost matching Ron's gryffindor famous ear blush.

_**Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's **__**not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." **__**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? **__**Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? **__**And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters... **__**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was **__**no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat **__**nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister **__**lately, have you?" **__**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, **__**they normally pretended she didn't have a sister. **__**"No," she said sharply. "Why?" **__**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting **__**stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..." **__**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley. **__**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you **__**know... her crowd." **__**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered **__**whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he **__**didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - **__**he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?" **__**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. **__**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?" **__**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me." **__**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite **__**agree." **__**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. **__**While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom **__**window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. **__**It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for **__**something. **__**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the **__**Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of**_  
_**- well, he didn't think he could bear it.**_

That was the last straw. Harry had had enough. The Dursleys had already insulted his real family three times, and he hadn't even entered the story yet! It was outrageous! Harry could feel his face grow hot. He wasn't the only one. The crowd had broken into yet another fit of angry outbursts. Harry was about to stand up and walk away in fury when he felt a cool, comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Luna, and slowly sat down again. The Dursleys weren't worth losing his head over. He saw a couple of his friends shooting him worried looks.

_**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. **__**Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting **__**thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were **__**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. **__**Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about **__**them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get **__**mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over **__**- it couldn't affect them...**_

"Well he's in for a nasty surprise," mused Harry, who had dropped his anger as quickly as he had picked it up.

_**How very wrong he was.**_

_**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat **__**on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as **__**still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of **__**Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the **__**next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly **__**midnight before the cat moved at all. **__**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so**_  
_**suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the **__**ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**_

"Apparition," a few ravenclaw boys sang together. The older witches chuckled, already guessing who the man was.

_**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, **__**thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which **__**were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, **__**a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. **__**His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon **__**spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been **__**broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**_

"Dumbledore!" Everyone cheered for one of the greatest wizards in history. Harry smiled sadly to himself, remembering the crazy, wise, likable old wizard. He would be remembered.

_**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a **__**street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **_

"Oh, he knew," Harry, Ron, and Hermione said together, earning a chuckle from a seemingly ancient wizard, who, little did they know, had once been their beloved late headmaster's friend.

**He was** **busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to** _**realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat,**_  
_**which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For **__**some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and **__**muttered, "I should have known." **__**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a **__**silver cigarette lighter. **_

"The Put-Outer!" several children shouted. They had only heard of the thing in tales. Ron proudly held up the device, earning him many oohs and ahhs.

_**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and **__**clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He **__**clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times **__**he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street **__**were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat **__**watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed **__**Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening **__**down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his **__**cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down **__**on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he **__**spoke to it. **__**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." **__**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling **__**at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly **__**the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was **__**wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight **__**bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**_  
_**"How did you know it was me?" she asked. **__**"My dear Professor, I 've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**_

Several people laughed at Dumbledore's sense of humor- it was a mixture of mere truth with the hint of cheerfulness that led it to be a joke.

_**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said **__**Professor McGonagall. **__**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a **__**dozen feasts and parties on my way here." **__**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**_

A student sniffed, doing an imitation of Professor McGonagall's signature strict nature. The crowd laughed. Minerva glared at the child, but she couldn't hide the small smile creeping up on her.

_**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. **__**"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles **__**have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her **__**head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks **__**of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They **__**were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet **__**that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**_

Dedalus looked at Minerva. "You think so low of me?"he asked in mock anger. Minerva blushed and faking shame, said,"My apologies, Diggle." Every one howled with laughter.

_**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious**__**little to celebrate for eleven years." **__**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no **__**reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on **__**the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, **__**swapping rumors." **__**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping **__**he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A **__**fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have **__**disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he **__**really has gone, Dumbledore?" **__**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful **__**for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**_

"A what?" Ron asked Hermione. "It's a muggle sweet," she replied. "Dumbledore was very fond of them." Harry added.

**"A what?"** _**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of" **__**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't**_  
_**think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if **_**You-Know-Who has gone -"** _**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him **__**by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I **__**have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **__**Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was **__**unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so **__**confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason **__**to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name. **__**"I know you haven 't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half **__**exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're **__**the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of." **__**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will **__**never have." **__**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them." **__**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey **__**told me she liked my new earmuffs."**_

Everyone looked over at Madam Pomfrey, who said,"They were nice midnight blue ones with a charm so that it looked like the night sky."

_**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls **__**are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what **__**everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally **__**stopped him?" **__**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most **__**anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard **__**wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed **__**Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that **__**whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until **__**Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing **__**another lemon drop and did not answer.**_

Harry laughed. Enter Dumbledore's annoying habit to block out people when focusing on candy. It was surpising all of the old man's teeth hadn't fallen out.

_**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort **__**turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is **__**that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. " **__**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **__**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... **__**Oh, Albus..." **__**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I **__**know..." he said heavily. **__**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. **__**They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he **__**couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, **__**but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's **__**power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone. **__**Dumbledore nodded glumly. **__**"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's **__**done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? **__**It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the **__**name of heaven did Harry survive?"**_

"Love," Harry thought to himself.

_**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know." **__**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her **__**eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a **__**golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. **__**It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving **__**around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because **__**he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was **__**he who told you I'd be here, by the way?" **__**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to **__**tell me why you're here, of all places?" **__**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family **__**he has left now." **__**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried **__**Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. **__**"Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't **__**find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw **__**him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. **__**Harry Potter come and live here!"**_

"At least you tried," Harry said to Minerva. If Dumbledore wasn't so wise, Harry might have had a happier childhood, but that would also mean losing the wards that only the Dursleys could have. Perhaps living with the Dursleys wasn't such a bad decision.

_**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and **__**uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've **__**written them a letter." **__**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on **__**the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a **__**letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a **__**legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day **__**in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child **__**in our world will know his name!"**_

"You were right about the books, but there is no Harry Potter day yet," Harry said to Minerva, smiling. She smiled back. The boy definitely deserved a day dedicated to him, for all that he had done for everyone.

_**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his **__**half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous **__**before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even **__**remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away **__**from all that until he's ready to take it?" **__**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and **__**then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy **__**getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she **__**thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. **__**"Hagrid's bringing him."**_  
_**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as **__**this?"**_

Minerva turned to the half-giant, who was sitting in the back. "My apologies, Hagrid. I should never have doubted you." Hagrid smiled back. "No, problem, Professor McGonagall."

_**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore. **__**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor **__**McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does **__**tend to - what was that?" **__**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew **__**steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a **__**headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and **__**a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of **__**them.**_

"I remember that motorcycle." Harry whispered to his friends.

_**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride**_  
_**it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times**_  
_**as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long**_  
_**tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands**_  
_**the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were**_  
_**like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle**_  
_**of blankets.**_

"Hagrid!" several Hogwarts students exclaimed. Hagrid was well-loved by almost all the Hogwarts students.

_**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did **__**you get that motorcycle?" **__**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing **__**carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to **__**me. I've got him, sir." **__**"No problems, were there?" **__**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right **__**before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was **__**flyin' over Bristol." **__**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of **__**blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a **__**tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously **__**shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**_

"Awww.." some 2nd year girls cooed at the description of baby Harry.

_**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall. **__**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever." **__**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" **__**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself **__**above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well **__**- give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**_

"Oh, my scar sure came in handy," Harry thought sarcastically. He hated that scar in many ways. First off, it ended up in the death of his godfather, Sirius. It also ended up with constant headaches.

_**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house. **__**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his **__**great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very **__**scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a **__**wounded dog.**_

"Aww, Hagrid, you cared that much?" Harry asked, smiling at the half-giant. Hagrid smiled and nodded back.

_**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!" **__**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and **__**burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead **__**- an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**_

"Yes, yes,-"

"It was-"

"So tragic."

Ron, Fred and George chimed. The crowd chuckled.

_**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or **__**we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly **__**on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to **__**the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out **__**of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to **__**the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at **__**the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall **__**blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from **__**Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**_

"The sight of a baby enough to make a witch, a wizard, and a half-giant cry," Harry said out loud, to his friends amusement.

_**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying **__**here. We may as well go and join the celebrations." **__**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his **__**bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." **__**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself **__**onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose **__**into the air and off into the night.**_

"It's a wonder you weren't caught," Professor McGonagall muttered. Several witches around her bodded in agreement.

_**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, **__**nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. **__**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he **__**stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and **__**twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet **__**Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking **__**around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the **__**bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **__**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish **__**of his cloak, he was gone.**_

"I would definitely need luck with the Dursleys," Harry thought to himself.

_**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and **__**tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect **__**astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his **__**blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside **__**him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was **__**famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. **__**Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk **__**bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and **__**pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very **__**moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up **__**their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy **__**who lived!"**_

Kingsley closed the book. "Well that's it for today. Now, we need to see who's going to be reading next week. Any volunteers?"

No one raised their hand. "Very well then, we'll have to pick randomly. He reached his hand into a witch hat on the stool next to him. A slip of paper flew out. "Remus Lupin!"

The werewolf, who was in the crowd, sighed and shrugged. "Whatever," he thought.

Harry, Luna, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny walked out of Diagon Alley.

"So, Harry, how did you like it?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know, it was kind of weird reading about a part of my life that I don't even know about. I'm not sure if the stories have personal thoughts. I hope not. I don't want to tell everyone my secrets." Harry replied.

"We'll see, I guess," Luna said reassuringly as they walked on.

oooooooooooooo

**So, how did you like it? Good, bad, okay?**

**Some things you may have figured out:**

**Fred will end up living. I can't stand the thought of not having the twins to brighten up the story.**

**Lupin and Tonks will live. Although Harry might have made a good godfather, I would still like Teddy to be with his parents.**

**I kind of like the pairing with Luna/Harry, so I'm really sorry if that's not who you wanted Harry to be with. I'm okay with Ginny/Harry too, so if you REALLY want this to have Ginny/Harry, then just add it in a review.**

**I think I'm going to do James/Lily, but since I like Snape too, I'm going to have him still be friends with Lily. I think he'll still hate Harry and die though.**

**So, these are just some things...and some things for you guys to think about...**

**These chapter kind of take a long time to right, so if I don't update often, well, it doesn't mean I've given up on this story.**

**So, yeah... :)**


	3. The Vanishing Glass

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Thanks to _Beautiful Abyss, god of all,_ and_ KatherineAL _for reviewing.**

**,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,**

A week later, the crowd gathered once more, this time bringing some new people, due to the positive reaction to the first reading. Remus Lupin was up in the front, ready to start reading.

Once again, Harry sat in the back with his friends. He was sure this chapter would have a lot of him mentioned, and he wanted to attract the least attention when people reacted to the Dursleys. Luna and Ron sat next to him, and Hermione, Ginny, and Neville sat next to them. Harry felt something smooth and silky fall into his hands when Neville walked by to sit with Ginny. Harry looked down to see his old invisibility cloak. He threw Neville a questioning glance. The he shook the cloak, seeing if anything was hidden. A note fell out- _Just in case. _Harry smiled.

Then, the second reading began.

_**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. **_

Mutterings ran through the crowd. How could they have ignored Harry Potter? Pictures of accidental magic _had_ to be more interesting than their muggle boy, right?No one seemed to have yet grasped the concept that the Dursleys _wanted_ to be normal.

_** Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**_

_** "Up! Get up! Now!"**_

_** Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**_

_** "Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**_

_** His aunt was back outside the door.**_

_** "Are you up yet?" she demanded.**_

_** "Nearly," said Harry.**_

Harry's friends chuckled at his answer. Ron playfully punched the boy on the shoulder.

_** "Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**_

Hermione looked shocked. "They made _you_ cook the bacon? You were only 11 years old!"she whispered angrily. Harry shrugged and said nothing. His invisibility cloak was going to come in handy. If Hermione, who had known him for so long, could get angry at this, the crowd would be worse, possibly even potentially _dangerous_ when the Dursleys more aggressive points were shown.

_** Harry groaned.**_

_** "What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**_

_** "Nothing, nothing..."**_

_** Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**_

Ron shuddered. How his friend managed with his horrible aunt and uncle, he would never understand. The shouting and work was one thing, but _spiders_? No, spiders crossed the line between a total nightmare and a bad life. Ron shook his head in disbelief.

_** When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**_

Screams of outrage filled the air. That was horrible! Harry having to live with such a horrible family was outrageous!

Harry clutched his invisibility cloak tighter.

_** Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**_

_** "In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**_

This time, it was the older wizards and witches who were angry. The outburst was unexpected, as those people were generally well tempered. However, these wizards and witches had gone to Hogwarts with Lily and James Potter, and felt somewhat insulted for the talented couple to be claimed to have "died in a car crash". Lily and James were greatly respected, and they were not to be underestimated for their great deeds.

_** Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**_

_** Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**_

_** "Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**_

Those who knew Harry well enough smirked, remember his hair's habit of staying unkempt and all over the place.

_** About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**_

"Just like James," thought Remus in remembrance of his friend.

_** Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**_

Ron, Fred, and George burst into fits of laughter, still remembering their encounter with Harry's cousin.

"Nice description Harry," Ron said while gasping for air.

_** Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**_

_** "Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**_

_** "Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**_

_** "All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**_

_** Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''**_

"Why, the spoiled brat!" Everyone muttered under their breath. "Just to think, thirty nine presents! Some kids don't even get one!"

_** Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."**_

_** "Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**_

"He gets that many presents and he can't even do a simple calculation?!" Hermione huffed, her tone a mixture of shock and disapproval.

_** "Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**_

_** Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**_

Harry sighed, remembering his horrible childhood.

_** At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**_

_** "Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**_

_** Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**_

_** "Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**_

_** "We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**_

_** "Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**_

_** The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**_

"Why, that's horrible!" Luna said, eyes full of sympathy for Harry. He had been through enough, he at least deserved a nice, worthwhile childhood to look back on. Such bad luck, she thought, when almost any family in the Wizarding world would have taken him in. What a shame.

_** "What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**_

_** "On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**_

_** "You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**_

_** Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**_

_** "And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**_

_** "I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**_

"Well, you can't control accidental magic, Harry. You very well might have," Hermione pointed out.

_** "I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**_

_** "That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**_

"They're worried about the car, not him?!" Some witches shrieked. Having had their own children, they were very protective over poorly treated youngsters.

_** Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**_

"Wow, that kid really is a spoiled pig," Ron muttered disapprovingly.

_** "Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**_

_** "I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**_

_** Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**_

_** Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**_

_** "I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**_

"They would do that to Harry?!" The crowd reacted angrily. No child deserved that.

_** "I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..**_

Famous last words, thought Harry.

_** But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**_

_** The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**_

"Accidental magic!" a first year muggleborn chirped excitedly. The witches around her chuckled at the enthusiastic eleven-year-old.

_** Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**_

Several people looked shocked. "But he didn't do anything wrong!" was the lingering thought.

_** Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**_

_** On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.**_

"Yeah, right," Hermione said, rolling her eyes exasperated. Harry flushed.

_** But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**_

_** While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**_

_** "... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**_

_** I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**_

Harry's friends looked at him oddly. "You remember that?" Ron asked, amazed.

_** Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**_

_** Dudley and Piers sniggered.**_

_** I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**_

"No it isn't," the twins chorused. The few people that had heard them glared at them for ruining the surprise.

_** But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**_

"Oh, they can't stop that, it's an instinct of his," Harry's friends thought.

_** It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**_

_** Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**_

"That whale of a son didn't need to be fed more!" Hagrid, who was standing in the back, grumbled.

_** Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**_

"Too good?! That was hardly fun for Harry!" Ron mumbled. He nudged his friend sympathetically. "Now I get why you loved Hogwarts so much, mate."

_** After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**_

"Is this the part..." Ginny whispered questionably. Harry nodded and put a finger to his lips, motioning for the redhead to be quiet.

_** Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**_

_** "Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**_

_** "Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**_

_** "This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**_

_** Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**_

_** The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**_

_** It winked.**_

Ron breathed a sharp gasp, realizing the meaning of the conversation his sister and Harry had just had.

_** Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**_

_** The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**_

_** "I get that all the time.**_

"You sure you aren't a snake-reader, Harry?" Luna said playfully nudging him. Harry gently elbowed her back. "Shush," he whispered with a smile.

_** "I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**_

_** The snake nodded vigorously.**_

_** "Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**_

_** The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**_

Harry sighed, remembering the snake. Harry had thought he found a new friend at the time, until he realized that the exact snake had been Voldemort's pet, Nagini.

_** Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**_

_** "Was it nice there?"**_

_** The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**_

_** As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**_

_** "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**_

Leave it to Dudley to ruin their conversation, Hermione thought, her gaze darkening in anger. Poor Harry.

_** Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**_

_** "Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**_

Uh, oh, Ron thought, certain that trouble was on its way.

_** Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**_

_** As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**_

"Parseltongue," was whispered through the crowd, along with gasps of shock and realization.

_** The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**_

_** "But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**_

_** The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**_

Ron slapped his face. Harry was in for it.

_** Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**_

_** Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**_

_** He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burn- ing pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**_

"That's terrible, Harry," Luna said shaking her head.

_** When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**_

"One of them was me!" Dedalus Diggle chorused merrily.

_** At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**_

"Awww...little lonely Harrykins..." the twins said, smirking as they ruffled his already messy hair. Harry smiled. Today hadn't been so bad; He hadn't needed to use his cloak, at least.

He laughed with his friends as they walked away, their silhouettes fading into the distance. At least everything had turned out perfectly, Harry thought, as he looked over all his friends.

Yes, everything was perfect.

_**,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,**_

**Hope you like this one! Sorry the updates take so long, I barely have time to work on this. I am going to move this rating down to K+, because the T rating seems too high. Also, I'm new to betas and all that, so if anyone would like to beta this or help me, PM me please. Thank you!  
**


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